The Betrothal Contract
by Gloweye
Summary: Sometimes, betrothal contracts don't result in the contract being broken or the participants falling in love. But neither does it have to grow toxic where they try to escape by having the other commit suicide first. Contract Haphne subversion. One-shot.


**Summary:**

Sometimes, betrothal contracts don't result in the contract being broken or the participants falling in love. But neither does it have to grow toxic where they try to escape by having the other commit suicide first. Haphne Contract subversion. One-shot.

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**The Betrothal Contract**

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_2 September 1991_

"Heir Potter?"

Harry looked up at the mention of his last name. He saw a timid blonde girl with pretty blue eyes.

"Uhm… I'm Harry. Hello?"

She tilted her head a bit. "You really don't know, do you?" The girl sighed. "I am Daphne Greengrass. I'm going out on a limb and assume you didn't grow up in the magical world?"

"No, I grew up with my aunt and uncle. I only heard I was a wizard a month ago."

"Ok, here's the short version. House Potter has been an important Noble House for several hundred years. As the last member and Heir, there's a bunch of privileges you have. There are also several duties. One of those is a betrothal contract one of your ancestors made with one of mine. Because of how close in age we are, that contract became active. You don't have a choice. I don't have a choice, and my family doesn't have a choice. I understand you don't exactly believe me right away, but you should be able to get your family's copy from Gringotts, who are often asked to act as an independent observer for multi-generation contracts like this."

Harry gaped. What sort of crazy world had he fallen into?

_9 September 1991_

Daphne had spoken the exact truth. He'd obtained a copy of the contract, and could easily spot it being unable to be broken. Either of them refusing would kill the refuser. So he'd sought her out again.

"Daphne?"

She turned around. "Yes?"

"I've read the contract. There's no way out, right?"

"Right."

"This world is new to me. I need you to teach me."

"First lesson. You called me by my first name without me having given you permission. That is considered seriously rude. Given how much we're going to see each other, I give it now."

_Hogwarts express back home, after the first year._

For some reason, Daphne had ended up alone in a cabin with Harry.

"Daphne?"

"Harry?"

"I just realized… We've known we've been betrothed for over a year. But I can't remember ever touching you. Is there rules about that."

Daphne looked down. This would mean the end of her good life, and the start of the hell that would be the remainder of it. But she would not lie.

"In public, a few touches between betrothed is considered normal. Holding hands, that sort of thing. In private..." She swallowed. "You're allowed to do with me whatever you want."

When Daphne looked up, for the first time ever he saw that her composure was broken. There was a tear in her eye, and she was clearly scared out of her wits. Harry swallowed to.

"Please calm down, Daphne. I won't hurt you. I promise I won't touch you until you're fine with it."

That seemed to calm her down, but not take away the root of her fears.

Daphne felt her immediate panic attack pass. She was safe… for now. But the boy wasn't even twelve yet. If his hormones would hit in a year or two, he'd forget all about the promise, and she'd become the sex toy she'd always known she'd become.

"Harry… I'm a witches witch. I am only attracted to girls. I'll never be fine with you touching me, but I'll still have to birth you at least one son."

Harry had gone completely red. "Uhm… that's not something we have to consider any time soon. Please, calm down. I hate to see you frightened like this."

_25 November 1994_

"Daph, I need your help."

Daphne turned around. While she'd worked in class a lot with her betrothed, he didn't make much claims on her time - at least not now that she'd taught him the basics of how to behave in pureblood society.

"With what, Harry?"

"I need dancing lessons for the Yule ball. Also..." The boy trailed off.

"Also what?"

"Do you want me to take you to the ball, or would you prefer I look for another girl?"

"I'm available. But if you really want to go with another girl, this might be the last chance you have."

"Will you go to the Yule ball with me?"

_30 December 1994_

Thinking back on the Yule ball, Daphne really thought she had no grounds for complaints. Harry had been courteous, and even at the end, walked her back to her house entrance. Despite herself, she was starting to consider him a friend. She'd never be sexually attracted to him, but despite being able, allowed, and arguably encouraged by law to treat her like his property, he respected her boundaries. Even today, he'd only touched her hands and the one spot on her lower back touched during dancing. It hadn't felt any different from dancing with her own father. He'd also allowed her to tell other guys that she couldn't dance with them because she was his betrothed and he didn't want her. This gave her an excuse to dance with girls which otherwise would have considered weird, and that had made her evening.

She knew Harry was attracted to her. She supposed it was for the best. They'd need to have children after all, even if she preferred to not think about how those children would be created.

_26 May 1995_

Well, it was done. The contract had a provision forcing them to marry in a year of getting their OWLs. They'd do it in the summer, just to get it over with. But she really wasn't looking forward to it. Especially the wedding night she dreaded. She'd just have to be prepared….

_15 September 1996_

Daphne entered their private quarters they'd gotten after their marriage. Entering the living room, she found Harry hugging the Granger girl. While she was somewhat abrasive, she had a good heart. She did make a small _eep_ sound when she noticed Daphne, though, and went beet red. Before she could open her mouth and put her foot in it, Daphne cut her off.

"Harry, would you mind if I talked to Granger for a bit?"

"Not at all, Daph."

He gave Granger an encouraging nod, then left. She'd already discussed this with him, but they'd decided that Daphne should be the one to tell Granger. Or rather, to offer her.

"Please sit down, Granger. We've got a lot to talk about."

The girl was clearly nervous, but after Daphne sat down, she hesitantly followed.

"Granger, I assume you're aware of the contract that binds Harry to me?"

Granger's face showed disgust. "Yes, I am. It's a horrible practice. And yes, I understand you had as little choice as Harry did. I can't believe your family agreed to this..."

"They didn't. It was accept or watch me die. But honestly Granger, I got lucky. You know as well as I do that Harry is a good man, who would never touch a girl without her approval."

"Yes, I do."

"Which is the problem. See, I am a witches' witch. I am only attracted to girls. Even the thought of being intimate with a boy is disgusting to me."

"Wait, so..."

Daphne nodded. "Yes. The contract forces us to have at least one son. And while Harry has always respected me and refrained from touching me, we will have to. It might disgust me to do it, but at least I can choose to do it regardless. Harry will have to have sex with a girl who doesn't want him. And to be honest, both of us deserve better."

Granger's eyes glistened. "Yeah, you do. Everyone deserves love..."

"I've always known I wouldn't get love. But what I've gotten with Harry is more than I ever believed possible. Now that I am his wife, there is literally nothing he could do to me that would give him trouble with the law. He could use an Imperius Curse on me to force me to have sex with him, and the law would back him. I've considered asking him to actually do it, but that would be dishonest to him. It's selfish to make it easier for myself by asking him to do something he believes pure evil. But enough about me. I have a request for you, Granger. I'm not blind, you're in love with my husband, and while Harry is trying to deny it because he doesn't want to be unfaithful, his heart really belongs to you instead of me. So I want to find a solution that both of you can be happy with, and I believe I have found one."

Granger looked disturbed. "You want… me to become his mistress or something?"

Daphne shook her head. "Nothing so crude, Granger. Have you ever heard of a Line Continuation Contract?"

"That sounds rather pureblood-y."

"I assumed you wouldn't. It's normally not something a muggleborn will need to think about. You must understand, magical families are always proud of their name. A Line Continuation Contract is when a family is in danger of dying out. If I hadn't had an older brother, then Astoria would have to establish a contract like that. It is close to, but fundamentally different from, marriage. The woman will keep her own name in order to continue her House, and her children will also bear her name. The Contract normally only arranges the conception of the children. In some cases, the woman will live alone and only visit for that purpose, but in others, she lives with her consort. Since you are technically the last magical of your name, you are able to create such a contract, and I am fully willing to encourage Harry to be your consort. You could live with us, and both you and Harry would be able to happily live with the person you love. Also… it would mean I would no longer be lacking."

"Lacking?"

"I am unable to perform all my wifely duties."

Granger went beet-red.

"Granger, who gave you the talk? You know, _that_ talk?"

"Mom."

"Then there's things you don't know. While everything that applies to muggles applies to us, there's more. When a mixed-gender couple, both magic, have sex, both receive a temporary boost in power to their magic. However, this only works is the partner is truly willing. While I can of course allow Harry to do what he wants with me, I am incapable of wanting him to, not really. Harry will be having to play politics, there's no way around it. And everyone can sense magical power to a degree, and those with more power will be more respected. As his wife, I cannot allow him to miss out on such an advantage. This is another reason we need you."

"But… where does that leave you?"

Daphne looked down. "Harry is truly willing. He likes and respects me, at least as a friend. That's enough to get me the boost no matter my own feelings. For our… wedding night, I made and drank Amortentia keyed to him. It took me a bit of time to convince him, but well… you're really supposed to be together on your wedding night. Situations like these are the reasons that love potions aren't illegal. And since I drank, I say it was my choice and my choice alone."

Daphne looked up, tears in her eyes. "Amortentia cannot create love, as you well know. I became obsessed with him and lustful, and it was stronger than my disgust. But I felt horrible all the time. We've experimented some more, with him under the blankets using his tongue on me to see if that would make it easier for me to give myself to him, but it did nothing. Every time I remembered he was a guy it just turned me off completely. There is only one way we've found that works and allows us to potentially conceive without giving me horrible memories - last week I asked him to cast a sleeping spell on me and then have sex with my unconsious body. It's not easy on him, but the fact that he can avoid hurting me made him agree that it's best."

"That's horrible..." Granger whispered.

"Yes. Will you help me and the boy you love?"

"I still.. Feel far to young."

"That's fine, so are we, really. Just be open to being his girlfriend and see how it goes."

Granger nodded, then rushed forwards and hugged Daphne. Daphne hugged her back, and felt herself grow wet at the feeling of the girls soft breasts against her own. The image of Granger in that incredible blue dress flitted through her mind. She felt a tear prickle in her eye.

"Please, Granger. While I might not be capable of being attracted towards Harry, he is a good man, and he deserves a girl who loves him. I can't be that girl, but you can."

She ended the hug.

"Harry knows?"

"I've told him about the possibility, and we agreed I should offer you this first. He's… well, he's a boy. He could never be comfortable discussing this."

Granger nodded.

"And Granger, if you ever get curious how it would be between girls..." Daphne winked, and Granger gave a full red blush again.

"Daphne, even after all this, why still last names?"

Daphne blinked. Of course, muggleborn. "Force of habit. I know it's different in the muggle world, but among magicals, permission has to be explicitly given to use first names."

Granger covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have given that long ago then… please, call me Hermione."

They chatted a bit more, before Hermione had to leave for an elective Daphne didn't have.

_21 Juli 1999_

I'd been slightly over a year since Voldemort's defeat at Harry's hands. Daphne was busy breastfeeding her son, Heir James II of House Potter, who was all of 27 days old. What almost nobody knew was that she'd slept through his conception, and as far as she was concerned, it'd stay that way. But despite her total disgust at the idea of sex with a man, she found that she couldn't have any more love for her child. And even if she didn't love Harry, he was a good father and loved their son as much as she did herself. It had taken her husband and Hermione some time to get used to the idea, but currently all three of them lived at Potter Manor, and Hermione would have her eldest in a few months. After the fear of the second blood war, life was finally good and happy again.

Daphne looked down at her child. This little boy was worth all her internal distress over the times she had Harry cast that sleeping charm on her. Perhaps they should do it again? Comparing herself growing up with siblings and Harry without, it would be a good idea.

_12 November 2035_

Daphne hugged her crying husband from behind, and put her head on his shoulder. In front of them was the casket of her best friend and his true love, Hermione Granger. Dragon Pox was fast and destructive. The poor woman had gone from healthy to dead in only two weeks.

"She'll be waiting for you beyond the veil, Harry. Even if she went far to soon, her entire life with you was happy, and you raised three amazing children together. While you mourn, also be proud of all the good she did, and all the love she had for you."

Somehow, hugging him like this didn't disgust her. After all, she was just comforting her best friend.

_13 April 2102_

Finally, it was time. Harry had preceded her to the other side of the veil a few years earlier. Even their five children were old. But Daphne lay still. Looking back, she knew that she had a lot to be grateful for, despite never having falling in love. As a child, she'd always been afraid to be tied to a man who'd force her to bear his children. But Harry had been better. He'd taken care of her. He'd made her safe, even if she was unable to love him in return.

Then Daphne closed her eyes, and she felt her body stop breathing.


End file.
